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I HOPE TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO PAUSE FOR A MOMENT,ADMIRE THE CLOUDS, CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN, GAZE AT THE STARS,TRAVEL TO THE DESTINATION YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO VISIT,OR JUST GET OUT TO EXPLORE YOUR OWN BACKYARD.

I began the year thinking I would write a monthly recap and share what I’m working on, books i’ve enjoyed, and a few links that have inspired me. Well, that didn’t happen. Perhaps I’ll rethink this next year for something more seasonally. Now felt like a really good time to check in, a lots happened. And as life goes its been a mix of good and not so good moments for me personally and for the world.

Summer Recap: Celebrations, Creativity, & Connection

Summer was more chill than a typical year addressing some health things and such. We did go on white water rafting adventure on the Kennebec which was awesome. I highly recommend North Country Rivers for your Maine rafting fun.

We are also super stoked to see Free Solo later this month created by filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. The New York Times said that "Alex Honnold’s Free Solo climb should be celebrated as one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever. Find a screening near you!

I recently updated my reading list with books i’ve enjoyed so far in 2018. Whether looking for a good book for yourself or a gift for someone this holiday season. You can never go wrong with a book.

Enjoyed this 22 min. documentary film Balance by Team Altra. It felt different than other films and to me was both relatable and inspiring. I guess I should also share, that I run in Altra running shoes. They provide zero drop with a natural toe box that nourishes my feet and keeps me doing what I love to do!

Welcome Fall

You may call it fall, fourth quarter, the season of color, sweater weather, or the season before the snow comes. I’ve been loving the beauty and vibrancy of colors. I’ve been running and hiking to soak in as much as possible.

Its been an emotionally charged time here in the US (and around the world). I feel it too. My remedy is to focus on what matters most and that begins by taking care of myself. Only once we care for ourselves can we care for others. And so many need your love and kindness.

If you’ve been rocking it, awesome! If its not been a great time for you, don’t lose hope. As I always say, remember that today is a new day (and a new season) to begin again.

As I have mentioned at the beginning of the year, I no longer set new years resolutions. I am, however, a big believer in doing work that matters. Ive been slowly working on a new photography book and doing a lot of writing too. As much as I want to put it all together into one piece, I think its going to be two separate, connected projects. I’m pushing hard to have the photography book, my first Maine photography book out as an ebook before the holidays. I’ll share more soon on Instagram, so follow me @jlynnfrazier .

To wrap this up, I leave you with Strala Yoga’s recipe for when you are lost.

A bit of a recap of what I have been up to, what I'm working on, what's inspiring me, and anything else I want to include. This year, I'm owning this space and giving myself full creative freedom.

January Recap: Celebrations, Creativity, & Connection

My reading frenzy continued and I read 12 books this month!!! I'm pretty sure that's a personal record. I couldn't quite believe it. One that I would recommend since it is also Black History Month is Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson . To support this area of important work, I created a reading list.

I wrote about my grandmother with "I remember" moments to honor her on her birthday which was this month. Lots of writing and will share more here this month from prose to poems.

January causes a heck of a lot of commotion about resolutions, eh! Where are you at?... Did you start off the year with a bang and feeling a bit tired today? Or perhaps you started quietly and are going momentum? Whether you are rocking resolutions, flowing to your own rhythm and flow, or in planning and incubation mode, remember that today is a new day (and a new month) to begin again.

As I have mentioned, I do not set new years resolutions anymore. I am, however, a big believer in doing work that matters. To do this, I set intentions for the year and map my progress in my Weekly Desire Map Planner by Danielle LaPorte (YES, PAPER!!!), a daily intention and gratitude practice, I set priorities and track them for the month, and I schedule what's important on my calendar.

This month, I'm tracking 5 things that I am committing to do daily. As Gretchen Rubin said in her book The Happiness Project "What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”My thought is that if I do these 5 things every day, I will feel good, nourished, and consider the day a great success. They are read, write, run, yoga, and gratitude. They are already scheduled into my calendar for each day for the month.

Also, engaging in work that matters which includes continuing my reading frenzy, writing (and sharing more here... split of excited and terrified), working on a photo project which I think will be a book project (its emerging), and working on learning to ski.

To wrap this up, I began starting with commotions. February is Black History Month and the commoditization of love also known as Valentine's Day. I like to think of it as a great time to remember to take time for self-love, because if you don't love and take care of you, you cannot spread love to others.

I think feminism continues and will continue to exist wherever women work in their own way with one another and with men, and wherever women and men go on questioning male definitions of value, refusing gender exclusivity, affirming interdependence, distrusting aggression, seeking freedom always.

Almost a year ago now, she wrote Constructing the Golem on her blog. It was written in response to, the then, newly elected President Trump as only Le Guin would so sharply, critically, and eloquently write. Her truth-telling wisdom spills out onto the page. She names our "creature of the media" President a "media golem." Her wisdom rings true and I will try my best to summarize as simply as I can. STOP. STOP giving him so much attention. Stop feeding into the chaos he creates and feeds off of when you watch him, engage with him on Twitter, or listen to his rhetoric.

Le Guin lives on through the words she put down on the page filling books for adults and children. Le Guin lives on in the lives of those she has connected with through her work. Le Guin lives on in the lives who have not yet come into the world or have not read her yet. And some will now be inspired to pick up a book and sink into Earthsea, a short story, or her later years writing her blog. And some will meet her down the road and begin a new generation of women and men seeking to define the world, by protecting the world, for all of humanity.

I believe that I share her concern with the state of the world. I have been thinking a lot lately of my own grandmother who was born just a year prior to Le Guin (though she passed nearly 15 years ago now). I imagine what it would have been like to sit down in a comfy chair and curl up in conversation with Le Guin as she stroked the fur on the back of Pard's neck.

I imagine how our conversation would flow from moments of lightness and laughter at the simple pleasures and perils of life. Then, without skipping a beat, we would flow into moments of serious contention. With a no bullshit style, we would leap together into a discussion of the realities we each see in the escalation of divisive rhetoric and the dividedly dark ways of being in the world. I imagine she might have shared what a great weight this was in her heart. I image she would speak with great candor of the troubles of the world, her fears and her hopes. All that she has learned and what she wishes for the future of planet earth.

As women growing up in two very different times, I imagine we would talk for hours on end about the important work for feminists, both women and men, to continue by questioning power, patriarchy, and inequality. To bring all of the voices and ideas that are marginalized to the center of things. I imagine she would tell me to never stop questioning and creating. These are pathways to learning, pathways to seeking freedom. RIP UKL.